Torture survived through alcohol, I guess.

This relationship has all the ingredients to be cute and wholesome, but at the moment, it is incredibly toxic. Has everyone noticed that Zhiyi has switched out Ai Xu's drinks on purpose? First, she put the barely distinguishable glasses right next to each other, then gave Ai Xu the non-alcoholic one, before distracting her with the "welcome" applause to ensure she "accidentally" grabbed the one with the cocktail.

last edited at Apr 11, 2026 5:54AM

^I think you're reading too much into this, rather she seems to be entirely unaware of what she's doing to the poor woman.

This relationship has all the ingredients to be cute and wholesome, but at the moment, it is incredibly toxic. Has everyone noticed that Zhiyi has switched out Ai Xu's drinks on purpose? First, she put the barely distinguishable glasses right next to each other, then gave Ai Xu the non-alcoholic one, before distracting her with the "welcome" applause to ensure she "accidentally" grabbed the one with the cocktail.

a toxic relationship trojan horsed as a cute dynamic goes so hard

I don't really find it toxic? I think part of it is she was hoping she would loosen up a bit she clearly sees how introverted I am.. I mean SHE is (Sorry I see myself very badly in Ai Xu lol). We don't even know how she actually feels for her yet she's called her cute and she bothers her. But the first time I think she really noticed is after the drunken face rub. I think it's more she's liked teasing her so far because of her reactions.

Also I've never liked the trope where someone drinks a drink and doesn't know it has alcohol on it. I don't care how dumb you are or how little alcohol you've drank. You will tell a difference between a juice or a tea without alcohol and one with no drink fully masks the taste.

"Why are they talking about this so openly?"

IDK, maybe they've already clocked your gayitude.

Re: Toxicity. I see about a 0% chance this story goes down that route, but if it did I'd be down for it 100%.

Also I've never liked the trope where someone drinks a drink and doesn't know it has alcohol on it. I don't care how dumb you are or how little alcohol you've drank. You will tell a difference between a juice or a tea without alcohol and one with no drink fully masks the taste.

She did notice some difference but didn't process what it meant. And sweetness really does help mask the taste and makes it easier to over drink.

I've mixed up orange juice and mimosa before. They were served in the same glass and I didn't realize until long after that, oh, that's why that tasted funny.

But it definitely requires manga logic to get falling down drunk like that.

I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely everyone was treating Ai Xu in the prologue and in the present day and all including Zhiyi even if she is… overbearing. I mean, they seemed pretty encouraging for the most part except in that reading aloud in class scene where they were laughing a bit. At least they cared when she passed out though. Anyway, it’s unfortunate that she dealt with being ostracized in… I guess before elementary school or in elementary school but before whenever that cake scene in the prologue takes place. It makes sense though since they needed something to explain why she has extreme social anxiety now.